Cause of death: Caught in explosion
Base of operations at time of death: none
Group affiliation: None
First Appearance: Fantastic Four # 142

Desmund
Pitt was a major in the United States Air Force when he met
test pilot, Ben Grimm. In short order, he and Grim, who
would later become the Thing, a member of the super team
Fantastic Four, became close friends.

During a
brief return to civilian life, Pitt
married and had a son.
Eventually, Pitt rejoined the Air
Force and was assigned to the
Kennedy Space Center in Houston,
Texas. There he was placed on the
staff of a research project designed
to develop the solar shuttle (a
variant on the space shuttle.) As
Pitt became involved with the early
stages of the project, his wife was
diagnosed as suffering form a
terminal illness. The prognosis gave
her only a few months to live. While
under the great emotional stress
which accompanied knowledge of his
wife's condition, Pitt also
discovered that the solar shuttle
project had been infiltrated by
agents of Victor von Doom, absolute
monarch of the Balkan state Latveria.

In an
effort to learn the extent of the
infiltration and its purpose, Pitt
decided to present himself as a
willing collaborator. Fearful that
the spy network may well have
extended into other areas of NASA,
Pitt told no one of his plans, not
even his superiors. Attempting to
gather as much information as
possible, he became the confidante
of the ring's leaders. They were so
impressed by Pitt that they brought
the major to the attention of Dr.
Doom himself. To all appearances,
Pitt was a loyal spy. He soon
learned that Doom's men meant to
utilize the awesome powers of the
solar shuttle to energize solar
panels in Latveria.

Before Pitt could expose the plan to
United States government officials,
his wife died. Grief-stricken, Pitt
became careless with his ruse and
Doom discovered that he was a double
agent. Doom's operatives in high
NASA positions denounced Pitt as a
traitor. Before he could be
arrested, Pitt disappeared. U.S.
officials deduced that he had been
killed.

In reality, Pitt had been kidnapped
and brought to Latveria. Doom wised
to make an example of Pitt to other
individuals who might dare to might
dare to consider betraying him. Pitt
was forced to undergo chemical and
cybernetic transmutation. Under
Doom's direct supervision, Pitt's
body was reformed to resemble a
legendary demon that supposed
haunted the mountains of Latveria.
Code-named Darkoth the Death Demon,
Pitt was given extraordinary
strength, agility, and limited
psionic powers. The final process in
the creation of Darkoth was exposure
to Doom's vibration device, erasing
his personality and memories. Doom
also implanted a hypnotic suggestion
that Pitt was in reality a demon,
who had been rescued from the
Netherworld by Doom to be his
personal warrior. As such, PItt
became the most loyal servant of the
man who made him a monster.

Aware of Pitt's past
friendship with Ben
Grimm, Doom utilized
Pitt in the capture
or the Thing while
he was in a
neighboring country.
After the rest of
the Fantastic Four
were subsequently
captured, Doom's
revenge on Pitt was
complete: he had
helped in the defeat
of his best friend
and his partners. In
hopes of forever
breaking Pitt's
spirit, Doom
revealed the truth
about his origin.
However, the
realization of the
truth released Pitt
from his
brainwashing.

Pitt
freed the Fantastic Four and helped
in defeating Doom and his latest
world-conquering plan. Nevertheless,
Pitt concealed the truth from Grimm
for unknown reasons. Pitt followed
Doom, who tried to escape in a
spacecraft, and continued to battle
against him. The craft collided with
a satellite, sending the two hurling
back toward Earth.

Pitt survived the re-entry, crashing
into the Texas desert. He was
discovered and recovered by the
Fantastic Four villain, Diablo,
master alchemist. Diablo used a
variant of his own life-prolonging
potions to save Pitt's life, but
also used his powers to grant Pitt
new powers and to submit Pitt to his
will. Diablo learned from Pitt about
the solar shuttle and its imminent
launch and intended to use the
shuttle's solar generators to
destroy his long-time enemy, Dr.
Doom. Pitt agreed for reasons of his
own revenge, but rebelled when he
learned the pilot of the shuttle
would be the Thing.

Warned by Pitt, the Thing was able
to destroy the solar generators and
prevent Diablo's plan. Enraged,
Diablo sought to kill the Thing by
subjecting him to lethal radiation.
Witnessing this, Pitt freed himself
from Diablo's domination and
revealed to his old friend his true
identity. He save the Thing's life
by hurling both Diablo and himself
into the exploding solar generators.
The Thing managed to escape the
holocaust, but Pitt was assumed
killed.